Communicating with first year medical students to improve Communication Skills teaching in The University of the West Indies

dc.creator	Stella Williams
dc.creator	Bidyadhar Sa
dc.creator	Paula Nunes
dc.creator	Keith Stevenson
dc.date	2010-03-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:19:32Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:19:32Z
dc.identifier	10.5116/ijme.4b97.d76a
dc.identifier	2042-6372
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/be2271e0beb643daa6cf3a21ef6b4f90
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/19765
dc.description	Objectives: This paper reports first year Caribbean medical students' preferred and least preferred Communication Skills teaching styles. It also reports their views on assessment and what qualities they valued in a good Communication Skills teacher. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to first year students at the end of Semester One and the data compared with the results of a study using the same questionnaire format in the UK. Results: Caribbean medical students favoured interactive lectures with opportunities for discussion over the didactic formal lecture. The least preferred modes of teaching selected were private study, formal lecture, role play and student presentations. The qualities that students rated highly in their Communication Skills teachers were being a skilled teacher and being knowledgeable and approachable. The preferred assessment style was a 50-50 balance between coursework and exam. Conclusions: First year medical students in the Caribbean studying Communication Skills preferred interactive lectures with opportunities for discussion. Their explanations indicated that interactive lectures provided more stimulation allowing opportunities for learning and greater retention of information. Students also found small group discussions with constructive feedback helpful in developing their own communication skills. Other international faculty may find this approach of establishing students' preferences for teaching style useful in planning their curriculum delivery.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	IJME
dc.relation	http://www.ijme.net/archive/1/communicating-with-first-year-medical-students.pdf
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2042-6372
dc.rights	CC BY
dc.source	International Journal of Medical Education, Vol 1, Pp 5-9 (2010)
dc.subject	teaching styles
dc.subject	student preferences
dc.subject	communication teaching
dc.subject	West Indies medical education
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Communicating with first year medical students to improve Communication Skills teaching in The University of the West Indies
dc.type	article